Philadelphia Live Arts Festival 2011

We're back in Philadelphia for the Live Arts Festival. This year, we're here for the first weekend of the festival: today through Sunday, September 4. As we did in 2009, we've crammed as many shows as we possibly can into our three days; we originally bought tickets for 10 shows but the last one we were planning to see on Sunday has since been canceled and we haven't decided if we're going to try to replace it or just head back to NYC a little earlier. I think we've chosen a pretty nice mix of theater, performance, dance and installation and I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

TONIGHT: Friday, September 2:

Twelfth Night: Pig Iron Theatre, 7pm. I don't think we've ever missed Pig Iron in the Live Arts Festival—the performances are always amazing and the production is usually one of our favorites. While I wasn't wild about their take on Measure for Measure in 2007, I have high expectations for this show... and, frankly, only Pig Iron could get me to break my moratorium on productions of Twelfth Night!

The Method Gun: Rude Mechanicals, 10pm. Another company whose work we've enjoyed many times in the past—their Lipstick Traces is still among the best shows I've seen. This purports to be another "non-fiction" work based on the disappearance of a 1960s era acting guru and her dangerous Approach method of acting. I don't care whether a word of it is true or not—I missed it when it was here in NYC and I get to see it now!

I had intended to put forward our entire agenda but after a miserable trip down on the train (the first less than stellar time in over a dozen years of taking the regional rails down here—and all Hurricane Irene-related), I ran out of time. Will post the rest of the weekend tomorrow or later tonight and my impressions of the shows when I get back to NYC (unless I get a wild hair....).